Star Wars Legends: The Final Legacy
by Emperor Ferus
Summary: The final adventure of Han, Luke, and Leia commences. An era of heroes and villains reaches its end as the age-old conflict between light and dark comes to a climactic head. The very fate of the Force itself hangs in the balance as the Jedi and Sith clash in a final showdown of unimaginable proportions. It all ends here.


_For nearly four decades, the New Jedi Order under Luke Skywalker has protected the galaxy and maintained civilization, standing proud through the New Republic and later the Galactic Alliance. A new generation of Jedi has been trained to inherit the order that has served as a symbol of hope and unity for many, when the sun at last sets on the era of old to make way for the next age..._

"I have a good feeling about this," Jagged Fel remarked as he stroked the pregnant belly of his wife, the strong and resilient Master Jaina Solo. "Our baby's going to be raised in a galaxy without fear of the Sith or any war."

"The kicking wasn't as bad tonight," Jaina remarked, gazing with Jag over the balcony of their suite in the restored Jedi Temple on Coruscant overlooking the horizon, "I'm sure the other shoe is going to drop soon though. Honestly, I'm as excited as you to have the baby, but I will admit I haven't liked being sidelined."

"Master Skywalker will have you back on duty in no time," Jag assured her as he stroked her sleek brown hair, "Feel free to leave the child-rearing to me."

Jaina laughed. "Well, I don't want to be an absentee mother. Sometimes I wonder if the old Jedi had it right."

A silence passed between them as in the distance, the flow of air traffic began to increase over the city.

"No news on the hunt for the Sith, huh?" Jag asked, moving slightly away from the balcony into the quarters where they had both slept the night before.

"Our scouts have covered most civilized systems more than once," Jaina replied, "I guess there's only so much in charted space you can search in this amount of time. Uncle Luke hasn't sensed them either, or Abeloth."

Her bulging belly shifted as something inside struck.

"First kick of the day," Jaina groaned, "told you."

"Like I said, I doubt a boy could kick that hard," Jag teased her as he discarded his robe to replace it with his professional attire hanging across from the bunk, "It's got to be a girl."

"Don't flatter me, Fel," Jaina responded in kind as she lightly kicked him in the leg. The Jedi Master and declared Sword of the Jedi reached for her robes and began to put them on over her underclothes as Jag likewise changed.

Jaina wished her Jedi robes did a better job of concealing her pregnancy. Maybe it was her relatively older age, but Jaina, in not too small a part, felt too used to life as a Jedi to become a mother. She was older than both her parents had been when she and her brother Jacen were born.

She'd turned out fine though, with a Jedi for a mother. And her young cousin Ben had grown up with two Jedi parents. So who was to say her child would be any worse off.

Her internal train of thought darkened Jaina's mind for a moment as she thought of her brothers, both long dead. Could she be exposing her own child to a universe of danger, assuming it was Force-sensitive? Should she hope the baby was not adept, or did she want an heir to carry on the bloodline as she had for both the Solos and Skywalkers.

Her husband Jag squeezed her arm, sensing her mental struggle and the painful memories within her. His attunement to his wife had nothing to do with the Force and everything to do with loving her for twenty years.

"It's going to be all right. Us and the baby, we have nothing to worry about."

Just his comforting presence soothed Jaina at once, and she exchanged a knowing, furtive smile. No words came from Jaina as the pair exited the quarters into the Temple corridor, but Jag didn't need to hear them. He knew he had succeeded in reassuring his wife.

Ben Skywalker sat in the Temple's meditation room, deep in an intense exercise. At least to another Jedi present, it may have merely appeared to be an exercise. The calm, peaceful expression and aura exuded by the young apprentice gave no suggestion that his mind and heart were troubled, meaning that Ben had improved considerably at masking his emotions and keeping his inner self buried deep down beyond reach.

Ben was doing nothing remotely similar a training exercise, and his mind and heart were far from at peace.

He hadn't really ever felt himself again since his mother had been killed by his cousin and former mentor Jacen, yet since meeting Vestara Khai and especially since their last encounter.

Then again, losing his innocence and the optimism of his youth was inevitable, if there was one thing Ben had learned from both Jacen and his father Master Skywalker, it was that clinging onto the past only prevented you from growing and reaching your full potential. In the long run, he supposed, was a good thing that he no longer saw the world the way he had at thirteen.

 _Vestara,_ Ben reached out into the broader living Force as he had many times, _I know you are out there. I know you still care for me, I felt it! Please..._

 _Vestara..._

Nobody else would consider him rational or wise in what he was doing, at best he would be seen by his fellow Jedi as a lovesick, delusional young man, and at worst hoodwinked and under a spell by Vestara's dark side powers.

It wasn't Vestara's fault that she had been raised among the lost Sith tribe. Some beings, Ben had come to realize, were born good and others were not. No matter how much nurturing affected one's personality, their true selves always remained underneath.

He had seen the inner good in Vestara, more intimately than anyone could have, even if his legendary father did not. Vestara was still out there, and Ben wouldn't give up.

However, he sensed that he would soon have to give it a rest as his father entered.

Luke Skywalker watched his son, now every inch a man, stood and turned to greet him. He smiled wearily, the age lines in his face as prominent as his gray hair, formerly blond. Though he no longer could call Ben a child, there was much for him to learn before Luke would feel his son was ready to be declared a Jedi Knight.

"Dad," Ben gave a formal bow.

"Ben," the elder Skywalker replied softly, with love but also a lesson in his words, "All the power in the universe isn't going to achieve what you are trying to do. A telepathic connection between two people is beyond the conscious abilities of the Force."

Ben's face turned the color of his flame-colored hair as he was reminded yet again that his father knew him better than he did even himself.

"Listen Dad, I can't just give up. It's not just the usual love attraction, I know she can be saved and I know I'm the only one who can reach her."

Luke held up a hand as he regarded his son. "Ben, I have no intention of stopping you from reaching to Vestara. I know more than anybody about trying to save a loved one from the dark side. I wouldn't be here today if my father's inner goodness hadn't overcome his demons.

But my bond with my father was not achieved consciously. It came to me through the Force. That is the true way of the Jedi, being patient rather than assertive. You can't merely _create_ bond, you have to _receive_ it from the will of the Force, and until then, wait."

Ben looked down in a mixture of shame and lingering stubborness. He knew his father was right. He was an adult now, not a teenager trapped in a romantic fantasy. Still, it was Vestara...

"Come along for breakfast," Luke urged, taking his son by the shoulder as he led him out to where Master Corran Horn stood, "I think we can fit in a sparring session before I have to meet with the Chief of State."

Ben felt himself relaxing, at least for the time being, as they headed down the sleek, stately marble staircase towards the Temple's dining hall. Luke Skywalker of all people knew what he was talking about. There had been seldom a reason to doubt his father and there was no need to start doubting him now. Luke Skywalker would always have the answers...

"Very good," Hapan Queen Tenel Ka commended her teenage daughter as Alana successfully deflected a blast from the training remote that hovered around her. "You're learning to let go of your conscious self."

Beside Tenel Ka, Alana's grandparents Han and Leia watched as Alana kept up her practice.

"You know, I remember when Luke was doing this with the old man," Han remarked, remembering his disbelief in the power of the Force, "I really didn't get what the whole deal with the Jedi was."

"Do you now?" his wife Leia asked him. Leia now carried the rank of Jedi Master like her daughter Jaina.

Han shook his head. "Not a damn bit." It wasn't so much the Force that he trusted as the ones he loved who used it.

Alana remained concentrated as the speed of the bolts flying towards her accelerated. Block after block until the round device exploded in the apartment living room.

"That's good for now," Tenel Ka said as Alana removed her helmet, "I think it's time for breakfast."

"Mom, can Grandpa take me flying in the _Falcon_ again today?" Alana asked, gazing upon her mother with the same eyes that haunted her dreams.

The same eyes that had widened with shock and regret as her arm was detached from her shoulder, long ago...

"I think there'll be time after your Temple lessons," Tenel Ka replied.

At that moment, she sensed a Jedi presence coming into the high rise apartment in the old 500 Republica skyscraper that had long been home to important politicians, dignitaries and public figures.

"Master Durron," Tenel Ka addressed the Jedi Master at the doorway as she and Leia conducted a traditional bow, "What brings you here this morning."

"I apologize for the intrusion, but Master Skywalker wants Alana to be elvaluated today," Kyp said directly, "he says that as many new apprenticeships as possible need to be made."

Leia frowned uncertainly. "He hasn't shared anything unusual with me. Do you know why he feels this is so urgent?"

"I'm afraid not," Kyp shook his head regretfully, "But Master Skywalker knows a great deal more about the Force than the rest of us, and we have to trust his judgement."

Han briefly thought of pointing out that knowledge of the Force and trustworthiness were not the same, but refrained. He'd come to trust Luke near indefinitely himself.

"When does he want to see me?" Alana asked with a mixture of excitement and nervousness. This was it, she thought. It had, for whatever reason, come up unexpected, and though it had been nearly her sole ambition, she had to admit that she wasn't sure she was ready today.

"As soon as possible," Kyp Durron replied.

"Remind me why we've come all the way out here,". Vestara Khai said aloud to the meditation sphere known as Ship inside which she hovered in orbit of the remote, mountainous world of Lothal.

 _A legendary Sith artifact rests here, unknown by generations of dark warriors,_ Ship replied, _within the remains of the Lothal Jedi temple._

"If there was any merit to this legend," Vestara argued, "some Dark Lord or lady would have found this mural by now."

 _You forget the inherent flaw of nearly every reigning Sith. They believe any means beyond their immediate comprehension below them and see their own powers as supreme. Hence the fall of Darth Sidious and his Empire. You will be different, young Vestara. You will restore the order to its ancient glory._

For my Father, and the Sith," Vestara finished the phrase repeated to her over and over by Ship. She had convinced herself that it was her duty to avenge her father by bringing down Skywalker and the Jedi Order he used to rule the galaxy.

It did not matter that the Jedi used the light side while the dark side was supposedly evil. The dark side was means to an end to Vestara, in order to fulfill the legacy she'd inherited. That was the duty of any Sith pupil, same as Jedi apprentices.

"I can feel the dark energy of this planet," Vestara said as she tapped into the living Force, sensing it calling to her. "You're right, Ship. This is where the Sith will return."


End file.
